Artificial stone slab having a lining structure

ABSTRACT

An artificial stone slab having a lining structure is used as an internal framework of the artificial stone slab for reducing the consumption of artificial stone material and the total weight of the artificial stone slab, and thus the artificial stone slab of the invention can greatly lower the construction load when it is used as a construction or decoration material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to artificial stone slabs, andmore particularly to an artificial stone slab having at least one liningstructure for reducing the total weight of the artificial stone slabwhile maintaining the stability and strength of the artificial stoneslab and preventing any deformation.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, an artificial stone slab primarily adopts a mixture of aresin, aluminum hydroxide (or calcium carbonate mineral powders), acatalyst, and a curing agent molded into a slab. The resin could be amixed resin of an unsaturated resin, an acrylic resin or an acrylic, andthe resin is cured for a specific time after the resin is mixed with thecatalyst and the curing agent. The resin is reacted with aluminumhydroxide to improve the water resistance and hardness of the product.Therefore, the artificial stone slab so produced has the acid/alkaliresisting, refractory, waterproof, moisture-resisting and pore-freefeatures. These features make the artificial stone slab to be a materialapplicable for constructions or decorations. However, the shortcomingsof a 100% artificial stone slab include a heavy weight, a high materialcost, and a fragile structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the invention to provide anartificial stone slab having a lining structure used as an internalframework of the artificial stone slab for reducing the consumption ofthe artificial stone material and the total weight of the artificialstone slab, and thus the artificial stone slab of the invention cangreatly lower the construction load when it is used as a construction ordecoration material.

A secondary objective of the present invention is to provide anartificial stone slab having a lining structure used as an internalframework of the artificial stone stab for improving the strength andshock resistance of the artificial stone slab as well as enhancing thesound and heat insulation effects.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an artificialstone slab having a lining structure which has the lightweight, rigid,powerful, high bearing, soundproof, shock resisting, moisture resistingand refractory effects.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide an artificialstone slab having a lining structure capable of absorbing thecontraction pressure occurred to the artificial stone slab andmaintaining the integrity of the artificial stone slab.

The technical measures taken by the present invention to achieve theforegoing objectives include:

a grid core slab, having a plurality of grids penetrating its upper andlower surfaces;

an upper sheet, with its bottom surface coupled to a top surface of thegrid core slab;

a lower sheet, with its top surface coupled to a bottom surface of thegrid core slab;

a flexible pad, coupled around the periphery of the grid core slab, thetop surface of the upper sheet and the bottom surface of the lowersheet; and

an artificial stone material, wrapped and coupled with the flexible padto a predetermined thickness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a grid core slab, an upper sheet and alower sheet of a lining structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled lining structure comprisedof a grid core slab, an upper sheet and a lower sheet according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an assembled lining structure comprisedof a grid core slab, an upper sheet and a lower sheet and wrapped with afoam material according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an artificial stone slab of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is another schematic view of an artificial stone slab of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is another further schematic view of an artificial stone slab ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an artificial stone slab of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the internal structure of an artificialstone slab of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an artificial stoneslab of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a lining structure including a grid coreslab, an upper sheet and a lower sheet according to the presentinvention, and a portion of the grid core slab is filled with a filler;and

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the lining structure of anartificial stone slab as depicted in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 for a lining structure of the presentinvention, the lining structure 10 comprises:

a grid core slab 11;

an upper sheet 12, with its bottom surface 122 coupled to a top surface111 of the grid core slab 11;

a lower sheet 13, with its top surface 131 coupled to a bottom surface112 of the grid core slab 11; and

a flexible pad 14, coupled around the periphery 113 of the grid coreslab 11, the top surface 121 of the upper sheet 12 and the bottomsurface 132 of the lower sheet 13.

The upper and lower sheets 12, 13 of the grid core slab 11 could be madeof metal, paper, or wood, and its structural characteristics include aplurality of grids 114 penetrating the top and bottom surfaces of thegrid core slab 11, and these grids 114 are preferably distributed allover the whole grid core slab 11. The upper and lower sheets 12, 13 canbe connected to the grid core slab 11 by an appropriate method(including adhesion, nailing, and the like). The flexible pad 14 is madeof a flexible material such as foam, corrugated paper, soft wood, orrubber, etc with a predetermined thickness and adhered with the uppersheet 12, the lower sheet 13 and the grid core slab 11.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6 for the method of producing an artificialstone slab 20 having a lining structure 10, the method comprises thesteps of:

pouring an artificial stone material 30 into a mold 901 as shown in FIG.4, and the dotted line in the figure indicates a pouring machine 900;

placing the artificial stone material 30 in the mold into the liningstructure 10 after the solidification (solidified into a gel form) ofthe artificial stone material 30 as shown in FIG. 5;

pouring the artificial stone material 30 into the mold 901 again to wrapthe whole lining structure 10, and waiting for all artificial stonematerials to be solidified a shown in FIG. 6; and

removing the artificial stone slab 30 from the mold 901 as shown in FIG.7 to complete the manufacture of the artificial stone slab 30 having thelining structure 10.

Refer to FIGS. 8 and 9 for the cross-sectional view of the artificialstone slab having a lining structure and the external and internalconfigurations of the whole artificial stone slab 20. The grid core slab11, the upper sheet 12, the lower sheet 13, the flexible pad 14 and theartificial stone material 30 are shown in the figures.

The lining structure 10 has the lightweight, rigid, powerful, high loadresistance, soundproof, shock resisting, moisture resisting andrefractory features. The lining structure 10 is used as an internalframework of the artificial stone slab 20 for reducing the consumptionof the artificial stone material 30 and the total weight of theartificial stone slab 20. Therefore, if the artificial stone slab 20 isused as a construction and decoration material, it can greatly reducethe construction load. In addition, the lining structure 10 furtherimproves the strength and shock resistance and also enhances the soundand heat insulation effects.

It is noteworthy that the flexible pad 14 disposed on the outer sectionof the lining structure 10 can absorb the contraction produced duringthe solidification of the artificial stone material 30. The contractionpresses against the flexible pad 14, and the flexible pad 14 provides aflexible effect to prevent the lining structure from being deformed,cracked, or broken. The flexible pad 14 of the invention is used toassure the complete structure which is very important to assure theintegrity of the artificial stone slab 20. Thus, the flexible pad 14 canbe used to avoid the lining structure 14 from being deformed, so as tomaintain the integrity of the artificial stone slab 20.

Referring to FIG. 10 for an exploded view of the lining structureincluding the grid core slab 11, the upper sheet 12 and the lower sheet13 according to the present invention, some portions of the grids 114 ofthe grid core slab 11 include a filler 115 made of is a material with apredetermined hardness (such as wood). The filler 115 is filled atspecific positions of the portions of the grids 114, such that thefilled grid 114 becomes solid.

Referring to FIG. 11 for the cross-sectional view of an artificial stoneslab having a lining structure, the artificial stone slab 20 uses atleast one connecting means (40) to fix an external part 41 at theoutermost surface corresponding to the specified position of the filler115. The inner end of the connecting means 40 is fixed to the filler115. In other words, the original hollow grid core slab 11 becomes solidby filling the filler 115 into the specified portions and serves as afoundation for coupling the connecting means 40. In the figure, theartificial stone slab 20 is used as a table top, and the filler 115should be filled at the positions corresponding to the table legs.Basically, the positions for filling the filler 115 varies according tothe locations of the external parts 41.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms ofa preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope ofthe appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similararrangements and procedures.

1. An artificial stone slab having a lining structure, comprising: agrid core slab, having a plurality of grids disposed therein andpenetrating its upper and lower surfaces; an upper sheet, with itsbottom surface coupled with the top surface of said grid core slab; alower sheet, with its top surface coupled with the bottom surface ofsaid grid core slab; at least one flexible pad, coupled with the topsurface of said upper sheet and the bottom surface of said lower sheet;and an artificial stone material, wrapped and coupled to said grid coreslab and said flexible pad to a predetermined thickness.
 2. Theartificial stone slab of claim 1, wherein said grid core slab is filledwith a solid filler disposed in a portion of said grids at predeterminedpositions of said grid core slab.
 3. The artificial stone slab of claim2, wherein said filler is made of a material with a predeterminedhardness.
 4. The artificial stone slab of claim 3, wherein said filleris a wooden block.
 5. The artificial stone slab of claim 3, wherein saidfiller is filled into a portion of grids at predetermined positions. 6.The artificial stone slab of claim 2, wherein said artificial stone slabis coupled to an external part by at least one connecting devicedisposed at the position of said filler corresponding to the externalsurface of said artificial stone slab.
 7. The artificial stone slab ofclaim 1, wherein said grids of said grid core slab are disposed all oversaid grid core slab.
 8. The artificial stone slab of claim 1, whereinsaid flexible pad is coupled to the periphery of said grid core slab. 9.The lining structure of claim 8, wherein said flexible pad is adheredand fixed to the periphery of said grid core slab and the top and bottomsurfaces of said upper and lower sheets.
 10. The lining structure ofclaim 1, wherein said upper and lower sheets are adhered and fixed tothe top and bottom surfaces of said grid core slab.
 11. The liningstructure of claim 1, wherein said grid core slab is a metal grid coreslab.
 12. The lining structure of claim 1, wherein said grid core slabis a paper grid core slab.
 13. The lining structure of claim 1, whereinsaid grid core slab is a wood grid core slab.
 14. The lining structureof claim 1, wherein said upper and lower sheets are metal sheets. 15.The lining structure of claim 1, wherein said upper and lower sheets arepaper sheets.
 16. The lining structure of claim 1, wherein said upperand lower sheets are wooden sheets.
 17. The lining structure of claim 1,wherein said flexible pad is made of foam.
 18. The lining structure ofclaim 1, wherein said flexible pad is made of corrugated paper.
 19. Thelining structure of claim 1, wherein said flexible pad is made of softwood.
 20. The lining structure of claim 1, wherein said flexible pad ismade of rubber.